UPDATE (11:15 a.m., June 19, 2012): The 18-year-old Lake Elmo man who drowned in the St. Croix River on Monday afternoon has been identified as Alexander Cook, according to a press release issued by Hudson Police Chief Marty Jensen on Tuesday morning.

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UPDATE (11:56 p.m., June 18, 2012): Divers recovered the body of the 18-year-old Lake Elmo man at 11:44 p.m., according to Hudson Police Chief Marty Jensen. His body is being taken to O'Connell Family Funeral Home in Hudson.

Emergency crews are breaking down the incident scene.

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UPDATE (7:45 p.m., June 18, 2012): An 18-year-old man from Lake Elmo has apparently drowned in the St. Croix River while he attempted to swim across a 200-yard channel at the end of the Lakefront Park dike, according to Hudson Police Chief Marty Jensen.

"He was swimming with some friends and was trying to go from the end of the dike over to the Minnesota side. He made it about a third of the way before he started to have difficulty," Jensen said. "He tried to make it back and his friends tried to help him and then he was seen go down." 

Jensen said that St. Croix EMS has ended its rescue operation at about 6:30 p.m. for the St. Croix County Sheriff's Office to continue as a recovery effort. 

The teen was part of a group of about 10 friends and more than 200 others were enjoying an 80-degree afternoon on the beach when the man was caught in the dangerously strong river currents. 

Dive teams from St. Croix EMS, St. Croix County Sheriff's Office, White Bear Lake and Lower St. Croix Valley are among those participating in the recovery dive efforts, Jensen said. Those divers are facing the same strong currents due to the high waters, as well as low visibility in the muddy river.

"If you're on the east side of the dike area the current is not very bad. It's very slow-moving and you can swim out here without a problem," Jensen said. "It's when you try to go across the main current—the main channel—is when you run into problems."

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ORIGINAL POST (5:41 p.m., June 18, 2012): Emergency crews are searching for a missing teen who was swimming in the St. Croix River at the end of the dike at Lakefront Park, according to Hudson Police Chief Marty Jensen.

The call came into emergency crews at about 5 p.m.

Emergency personnel from St. Croix EMS and Rescue, Hudson Police, Hudson Fire, St. Croix County Dive Team and Stillwater Fire and Rescue are on scene.

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This post will be updated as new information is available.